Eight authors you won’t want to miss at the Canberra Writers Festival 2025

Posted on 3 September, 2025

From Trent Dalton to Melissa Leong, this year’s program for the Canberra Writers Festival is overflowing for literary lovers.

And we’ll be the first to say it – it looks like one of the best programs to date.

Full of masterclasses, author talks, panel discussions, workshops, and book launches, from Wednesday 22 until Sunday 26 October, Canberra’s biggest literary event will take over the city for a collision of art-makers, big thinkers and storytellers.

With so much happening – including the very first Kids and YA Day – we’ve done the hard work for you to find eight authors you won’t want to miss.

Trent Dalton

You read that right – Australian novelist and journalist (and the brilliant mind behind the award-winning Boy Swallows Universe) is coming to Canberra.

In Dalton Defies Gravity on Saturday 25 October, he’ll be in conversation with journalist and author Caroline Overington about his most personal work yet, Gravity Let Me Go. And then, on the same day, he’ll also be joining a brilliant panel of authors as they share the books that sparked their love of writing in Some of My Favourite Books. Prep those fingers – we predict that tickets will sell fast for these events!

Melissa Leong

A three-course meal with Gold Logie-nominated TV personality and food icon Melissa Leong, while hearing her talk about her new book Guts: A Memoir of Food, Failure and Taking Impossible Chances, sounds almost too good to be true. But at Hotel Realm on Friday 24 October, you can do just that.

In conversation with HerCanberra founder Amanda Whitley, you’ll hear her talk about racism, mental health pressures and the darker sides of the hospitality industry, as she shares her journey in Guts: In Conversation with Melissa Leong.

With tickets priced at $140 (including the three-course meal), foodies and MasterChef Australia fans won’t want to miss this.

Lev Grossman

As the author of the best-selling Magicians trilogy, fantasy fans better be excited by the news that Lev Grossman will be apart of this year’s Canberra Writers Festival. On Saturday 25 October in Legend, Re-Imagined: The Bright Sword he’ll be talking about his new book The Bright Sword, a bold, exhilarating reimagining of the King Arthur legend.

Then, on Sunday 26 October, he’ll be hosting a two-hour workshop in Wrestling with Epic Fantasy where he’ll share his top tips on world building, plotting the heroes (or antiheroes) journey and more. For anyone hoping to write their own epic fantasy, this workshop is a must-do.

Em Rusciano

Comedian, podcaster, television and radio presenter, singer-songwriter, author and entertainer – Em Rusciano has done it all. Coming to the festival on Saturday 25 October for a special event called Blood, Sweat and Glitter with award-winning screenwriter Michael Lucas (Offspring, Rosehaven, The Newsreader) and hosted by HerCanberra’s own Emma Macdonald, they’ll be diving into her new memoir about living with the “diagnostic trifecta”: ADHD, autism, and perimenopause. And yes, laughs are guaranteed.

Chris Hammer

Love a crime novel? Local legend Chris Hammer will be hitting the stage with Michael Brissenden at a special hometown event on Monday 13 October. In Our Own Chris Hammer he’ll be discussing “What happens when the detective becomes the hunted?” and his new book Legacy. Seeing Martin Scarsden return to his first investigation in five years, Legacy is Chris’ eighth book – and it sounds like his most thrilling yet.

Madeleine Grey

Green Dot took the world by storm when it was published in 2023, and now author Madeleine Gray is coming to Canberra to discuss her highly anticipated second novel Chosen Family. In conversation with HerCanberra’s Erin Cross in the historic Rose Courtyard at the Hyatt Hotel on Saturday 25 October, book tickets to Chosen Family: Garden Cocktail and Conversation with Madeleine Gray for a heartfelt conversation about friends who adore and challenge each other through school, university, careers, and motherhood. Oh, and cocktails.

Griffin Dunne

American actor, director and producer Griffin Dunne has lived a glamorous life. Growing up with Joan Didion as an aunt, Carrie Fisher as a best friend and surrounded by celebrities (fun fact: Sean Connery once saved him from drowning), Griffin wrote The Friday Afternoon Club after his sister Dominique, a rising star, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. Taking place on Saturday 25 October, Grief and Glamour in Hollywood: In Conversation with Griffin Dunne is a unique chance to hear him talking about his book and one of the most infamous public trials of the decade.

Heather Rose

Best known for her novels The Museum of Modern Love, which won the 2017 Stella Prize and the Christina Stead Prize, and Bruny, which won Best General Fiction in the 2020 Australian Book Industry Awards, Heather Rose is joining celebrated Canberra writer Karen Viggers for an unmissable in-conversation event.

Taking place on Friday 24 October, In Love with Tasmania: Heather Rose will see her take audiences from Van Diemen’s Land to the champagne vineyards of France, all while sharing heartfelt insights about writing through life’s challenges. She’ll also be a part of the Some of My Favourite Books panel and will be hosting a writing Q&A session on Saturday 25 October!

And that’s just the beginning…

Beloved children’s author Andy Griffiths, U.K. Pulitzer-nominated journalist Sophie Gilbert, international bestseller Jane Harper, Australian media living legend and presenter Jana Wendt, and author and comedian Lucinda Price (aka Froomes) are some of the other highlights from this year’s program.

To see what else is happening (and to book your tickets) visit canberrawritersfestival.com.au